The Color of Loyalty
by RosWrites
Summary: Lars is given another chance to live his life, but doing so it's going to be difficult trapped on Homeworld. Besides, he isn't even sure that he wants his old life back. Pink and fugitive, he has to find a way to help Steven without destroying the planet of his new off color friends. It's not going to be easy. Spoilers up to 5x04.
1. Purpose

Welcome to my Steven Universe fanfic. Just so you know, this story is going to be Lars centric for obvious reasons, and the total length of it will be based on the feedback received. Obviously you can point out everything that you like as well as what you don't, don't be afraid to let me know.

And if my writing seems off sometimes, it may be because this is the first time that I try to write something as huge as a fanfic in English. For enduring it with me, thank you.

* * *

Pink nails, pink hands, pink wrists. Man, everything was pink now.

Lars looked up breaking the trance that he was in. Pink wasn't the important thing about this.

He had died not an hour ago and up until now that fact has not even been acknowledged by him. Damn is he dumb.

His death was cut short, but death nonetheless. And now, he was alive again, all thanks to Steven. That kid is not only the bravest, nicest person that he knows, but also can bring people back from the dead. He had brought HIM from the dead. Him, as, in Lars.

Stupid, mean, coward Lars.

Lars, who thought that he had no friends and had the two most caring people that he knows help him fit in someone else's group just to ditch them and get kidnaped.

Damn is he dumb or not?

But that was the old Lars. Like, two hours ago Lars. Not pink Lars.

Pink Lars understood something when he took a knee in front of Steven. That heart to heart conversation with Steven in the ship of that mean gem made him realize that Steven was not that carefree kid that comes every day for his daily dosis of donuts, not even that positive kid that tried to help him make new friends or puts up with his temper. Steven is scared, just like him, but he chooses to do something about those things that make him scared.

Steven has purpose, and now he does as well.

Lars has a new life to thank Steven for, so, this time, he is going to make him proud.

He doesn't dwell on this much longer before he is on his feet and walking across the dimlite cavern to where Fluorite and Rhodonite stand.

"Hey, excuse me."

Rhodonite turned her head abruptly to him like he just gave her the scare of her life.

"For my diamond! Don't creep on people like that Lars."

"Come, come, Rhodonite, don't snap at the poor human. What can we aid you with little one?" Fluorite was enormous and creeped Lars a little if he was being honest, but he could clearly see that she was kind and caring.

"Um, I was just wondering if you could, you know, like, teach me a little about this place or something."

"But of course Lars, it is the least that we can do for you" The big caterpillar being closed the distance between Lars and her smoothly and made a signal to the rest of the off colors to get closer as well. "This is a kindergarten, where us gems are born. Usually, the type of ground determines the kind of gem that can be nurtured so we are born with many others like us at the same time".

"Not like us, us." Said Rhodonite making a face. "We are errors."

Lars frowned at that.

"I've heard you say something like that early, but i still don't get it. You are made, like, to be the same exact way as the rest of your kind of gem?"

The Rutile twins looked upon each other with a sad look.

"Something along that line."

"We are meant for a purpose, if we can't fulfill our role we have no place among others."

Fluorite turned and motioned to one of the walls full of humanoid looking holes.

"In Homeworld being equal to our kind is what is meant to be. Sometimes we are looked down upon because we are born less that we are meant to be." Both twins and Padparadscha looked at their feet. "Sometimes we are looked down because we choose to be more than we are" Fluorite motioned to herself and Rhodonite.

"I still don't get it, you might be 'errors', whatever that means, but it is not necessarily something _bad_." The rest of the gems shared a confused look and Lars felt the necessity to explain himself. "I mean, look, is just that you are still people, or gems or whatever. You are living things, being different between each other should not matter that much. Not to the point of _killing you_ being normal."

They all looked confused.

"Sorry, it is really not my place to say thing like this. It's just that is weird for me." Lars was somewhat embarrassed about the whole thing.

Fluorite let her face come closer to Lars' own.

"You seem to be a caring being Lars. I can't help but wonder if it is something that comes with being an earthling, your friend Steven seems to be as well."

"Oh, I'm not caring" Said Lars with a scowl on his face. "You are right about Steven tho. He is not even human, not like me I mean, but he is really the best person that I know." He sat down harshly on a rock, dropping his shoulders and sighing. "I knew he was half gem, but it never kicked in until now. He says that his mom was a quartz of some kind and that your planet was trying to make him pay for her crimes." He clenched his hands turning his knuckles a pale pink. Huh, that was new. "I really don't know anything about that whole thing, and it's killing me right now because if I don't understand I won't be able to help him."

The off colors shared a look.

"You say that his mother was a quartz and Homeworld wants him?" Said Rhodonite with a fearful tone.

Lars looked up and catched both Fluorite and Rhodonite with an alarmed look. It was short, but Lars saw it.

"You know something about it?" He jumped off the rock with a frantic look on his face. "Please, if you know tell me, I need to know. Steven is always trying to keep me and everyone else out of this kind of stuff, but I am too deep now. I died not two hours ago and he brought me back. I owe him to at least comprehend what is he dealing with."

There was a long pause. A long, long pause.

Lars began to think that after all, they wouldn't be able to fill him about Steven's Mom, but then Padparadscha spoke for the first time in the whole ordeal.

"Young Lars seems to be confused about the role of Steven on this world and will fill us in with a piece of relevant information. Steven's 'mom' is Rose Quartz, leader of the Crystal Gems. What he doesn't seem to know is that this was a terrorist group that rebel against the desires of our magnificent Diamonds to colonise the earth. But even this action is nothing compared about her true crime. The assassination of Pink Diamond."

Lars was about to say something when the Rutile twins made a signal to stay quiet.

"Diamonds are everything to a gem. They are _indestructible leaders_ , they are _providers_ , they are the reason _we are_. So, when Pink Diamond was shattered, a small conflict like the earth rebellion turned into an open war. Earth was destroyed and the Crystal Gems with it."

Lars was dumbstruck. What, the, hell.

Rebellion? Assassination? War? Earth destroyed?

Man, this was bigger than him. He wasn't even sure that he was hearing clearly.

Padparadscha seemed to have ended with her speech, and Fluorite turned to Lars.

"With this information in mind, Lars, are you really saying that Earth is whole, and the Crystal Gems active?"

He gulped and scratched his nape.

"Well, yeah, I was there not a day ago. Steven is there right now, and he lives with the Crystal Gems on this temple on the beach. But Steven didn't do any of that stuff, and his mother didn't either! He just had that weird looking trial with that big ladies and they said that a Quartz couldn't possible shatter a Diamond! It was super sketchy! I didn't understand half of what was going on but the yellow and blue ladies, they seemed pissed off with each other about something that Steven's attorney said." The tension between the off colors was palpable and Lars felt it was his fault. "Is that bad?"

"No, Lars, is not bad." Said Rhodonite while trembling. "What you are saying is terrifying. Because if what you say is true, Homeworld will cease to exist as we know it."


	2. Shattered

"I… I don't really understand the meaning of this."

Lars was starting to feel numb, with a headache beginning to take roots on his brain.

"It's really simple if you take a moment to think about it." Said one of the twins with a defeated look on her face.

A pause. Another long pause.

Lars was beginning to feel anxious.

"If it's that simple, please explain. I don't... look, I'm not from around here. Clearly things works differently on this place than on Earth." He was livid now, trying to have things explained for him. "Start from the beginning. What in heaven's name is a Diamond?"

Fluorite was lying on the floor since the one sided revelation with a weary look.

"They are everything to us. Diamonds are the most perfect beings on the universe. Powerful, intelligent, merciful." She said. "They have been here long before all of us, and they will be here long after we are all gone."

Lars stared blankly at her.

"Well, that's a load of crap."

All the gems gasped at that shooting him a shocked glance. Lars recoiled at that.

"I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm sure you all have your reasons to… worship them? But, they are also gems like you right?"

"Not like us! Nothing like us! How can you even say that?" Rhodomite was livid. "They are perfection! They are not even like a fully optimised gem, they are all powerful!"

Lars was confused.

"You mean, like a _god_?" He let out a jittery giggle. "You can be possible saying that they are _actually gods_."

The silence between the off colors said everything that was left unsaid and Lars started to realize the scale of the mess he was in.

He needed a minute to process all of this new information. 'Clear your mind Lars, try to make sense to all of this'. But it was fruitless, Lars knows that he has never been specially clever and that thought alone breaks down any progress on the topic.

He isn't cut for this. He knows it, everyone knows it. Everyone but Steven. Not even Sadie has the blind faith that Steven has put on him, and in a way, Lars likes it.

Lars has earned that faith, maybe a little late on their relationship, but he has earned it for himself with his own actions. Maybe there is a reason for Lars being on Homeworld.

Steven is not that young compared to him, but even when he seems to be mature and responsible, he is naive.

Lars, is anything but naive. He is sure that Steven understands in a way the delicate situation that his mother left him, but he also knows that the harders specs of it would fail to reach him.

Steven was on trial for the murder of an alien deity. Talk about trouble.

"Friends, Lars the human will realize soon that the Diamonds are the equivalent of Gods on his world and will be having a hard time coming to terms with it. Maybe it would be wise to let him rest for the day, it's said that humans needs to do something called _sleep._ "

Lars was thankful to Padparadscha for this opportunity to pause the conversation for the time being, but now there was another whole different problem.

He really wasn't tired.

He was mentally exhausted, but not physically tired.

Damn, he wished that Steven could show up soon with some news.

But luck was simply not on his side today.

Hours must have pass by while Lars was lying on the ground trying to coax his brain to get some sleep when he heard rumbling outside the cavern.

"Lars, Lars!"Called Rhodonite urgently but keeping the noise to a minimum. "We have to move!"

"What? Why? What's going on?" he was on his feet in a heartbeat. "Have someone found us?"

"Not yet, but the Robonoids have moved on from this side of the Kindergarten and now would be a good time to reposition ourselves."

"Seems like the right move." He started to follow her with the full intention of keeping himself on the back of the group when he reevaluated that move. "Wait. It would be better for all of us if I lead the way. Tell me where to go and I'll look out for possible Robonoids scattered behind. They can't see me after all."

He was self conscious, like he just said something dumb and they would all laugh at him. Instead, their faces lit up and approached him to give him directions.

"This is a great idea Lars!" Said one of the Rutile twins. He should look for some kind of nickname to tell them apart.

"Having someone to scout for us is going to be very beneficial for our safety!" the other one finished.

"Yes, this will be good. But be careful out there young Lars, if you see something or someone don't engage in any kind of interaction. Just come back to us and describe it. We will be right behind you waiting for your signal." Warned Fluorite.

"Ok, right, so… where are we going?" Lars asked.

"We can't go to the surface for obvious reasons, so we are moving to another of the hidden caves that have less openings." Said one of the Rutiles.

"In our circumstances it would be wise to keep a low profile for the next few days, just until you and Steven decide what you want to do." Completed the other.

"Yeah, that would be good. So, which way?"

* * *

Lars was no scout. The closest thing to exploring that he had done was playing as a kid with Ronaldo in the outskirts of City Beach, but even then it was more fooling around than actual exploring. So he was at a loss of what to do.

He really tried to be silent, moving carefully across the smooth floor and avoiding knocking off any rock, and to be more aware of his surroundings than normal.

He kept his upper body low, the threat of other gems not so friendly as the off colors too real to be cast aside. Peeking around a corner, he waited for the other gems to be closer to make them a signal until a soft voice reached his ears.

He turned to his friends and made them a signal telling them to hide, which they did startled.

Lars was starting to follow their steps, when the voice got clearer.

"We should leave the scum to rot here, this place is a mess. So much space to cover, to small the target."

Lars tried to make himself smaller on his hiding spot while trying to catch something useful.

"At the end of the day there is only one exist on foot, we should just nuke this place and get done with it. Urgh, this is tiring."

He could not see the gem making those claims, but he heard rumbling from where the voice came. She had to be part of some kind of patrol looking for him and Steve.

Lars had to throw her off their steps, deceive her somehow to buy time to relocate and think about what to do next. He was now aware that this was bigger than him and that his chances were dim if he confronted the new gem, but there surely was something that he could do.

He looked around him, not finding anything that could help him. Panic started to settle on his stomach when it suddenly hit him.

Trying not to make any noise, he quickly pulled himself up and started to run with his head and torso low.

His feet were carefully placed, falling swiftly on a steady pace. When he was far enough from that gem he started to rip some cloth of his shirt. His plan should work out.

Carefully, he began to remake the path that he had lead from that first cave, meanwhile attaching the ripped cloth to various rigged edges. He tried to keep the number of pieces to a minimum to make it believable. When he had a trail, he dropped some more cloth on the edge of the level so it would fall to another.

Surprised by his own actions, and the possible threat looming over him, he began to run back to his friends.

"Damn, I'm not half bad at being sneaky." Muttered to himself.

He began to slow his pace when he felt that he was getting close, choosing to prioritise the stealth at that distance of the unknown gem. It was like this how he found the others.

They all looked scared, and Lars could not stop himself from thinking if it was for his sake. Shaking that thought off of his mind, he remembered the mumbling of the outsider and fear began to creep inside him.

"Guys, we have to get out of the kindergarten right _now_. They might blow this place up."

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Thank you all for your favs and follows, and to the kind reviewer as well.

Next chapter i'm hoping to get to some action and Steven is sure to make an appearance, so stay tunned.


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